The Bruins long ago essentially wrapped up the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and the past few weeks have felt more like the preseason than the regular season.

Nevertheless, the Bruins did display some issues during the stretch of the past few weeks. Namely, they’ve had an issue with closing out games, as they’ve given up a handful of third-period leads.

Johnny Boychuk spoke to Toucher & Rich on Monday morning, and he said that issue is completely in the past.

“No need to worry about that,” Boychuk said. “Everybody’s going to have to talk about something, and that’s one of the things that they’re talking about. That’s sometimes the way it happens, and you can’t worry about that now. It’s behind us and we’re in the playoffs.”

Jon Wallach asked Boychuk how much he and the team remember about the Bruins’ 6-1 loss to the Red Wings back in November, and whether that will have any effect on the upcoming first-round playoff series.

“Nothing,” Boychuk said of what he remembers from that game. “It’s a long time ago and we’ve played so many games in the last two months that you don’t even have time to think about anything like that.”

Boychuk also gave a preview of what the Bruins will need to do to beat the Red Wings, and what makes playing Detroit so tough.

“I think just the way that they play,” Boychuk said. “Everybody knows that they’re a puck possession team, but when we’re in our zone and we’re breaking out, they’re good at mirroring the centerman and pinching down on the forwards. It’s different than a lot of teams, and they’re very well structured.”

The series gets underway on Friday night at the Garden. You can listen to every game of the Bruins’ playoff run on 98.5 The Sports Hub!